Siobhan Murray & Christina Oddo
Staff Writer, News Editor
This year’s House Party Weekend has resulted in numerous alcohol related incidents, including 15 hospital transports and eight campus thefts, according to the Interfraternity Council (IFC).
“There were 15 total hospital ambulance transports, but that’s not counting the people who may have taken their friends to the hospital,” Alex Sandoval ’15, GAME Chair of IFC, said. These numbers were provided to IFC by Associate Dean of Students Amy Badal.
There are currently two University student suspects who allegedly committed minor thefts this past weekend. According to the University Department of Public Safety, out of the eight total thefts that occurred over the weekend, at least two laptops were stolen. This occurred in Roberts Hall, McDonnell Hall and the Gateways. There have been no signs of forced entry, Public Safety said.
Public Safety also reported five accounts of criminal mischief. Windows in Harris Hall were broken and there were two reports of damaged vehicles. Chief of Public Safety Steve Barilar said that this number of mischief reports is greater than last year, but that in 2011 there were six criminal mischief reports.
Barilar explained that with House Party, the University receives a large group of visitors on campus. These students may go unnoticed and may not be considered by others as potential suspects. This is Barilar’s first year as chief, but third year witnessing House Party Weekend. He reminds students to lock their doors and windows when they are not home.
According to Barilar, there were also 10 incidents of underage possession of alcohol, a similar number to last year’s, and there were also five cases of public drunkenness on campus. Public Safety conducted six transports to the hospital, compared to three transports last year.
The Union County Sheriffs Department had between two and four officers on campus from Friday morning to Sunday morning.
“Whenever there’s a major event going on in county boundaries, we try to participate in maintaining security and doing anything that will help keep people safe,” Chief Deputy Sheriff Scott Hahn said.
According to Hahn, the Union County Sheriffs Department had two transports to Evangelical Hospital, one in a police car and the other in an ambulance. There were also six participants, apart from those transports, who had alcohol violations; three were for underage drinking, one for public drunkenness and two of the six were guests.
“Everyone has their own levels of tolerance, and if we see someone unable to take care of themselves and are concerned for their safety, we will transfer them to the hospital,” Hahn said.
According to the Buffalo Valley Regional Police (BVRPD), who cover everything around the University and who are also authorized to handle anything that has been seen on campus property, there were three alcohol violations this past weekend (examples including underage drinking and container violations). There was also one disturbance reported, three noise complaints and two ordinance violations, which could involve disorderly gatherings and fire violations, according to the BVRPD.
The BVRPD transported two participants who overdosed on alcohol to the hospital.
In regards to past House Party Weekends, BVRPD Chief Paul Yost said that he “didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.” According to Yost, this weekend was similar to last year’s, but there were a lot of residents in the area who were upset about the littering and trash, especially as they left their homes Sunday morning to attend church.